New Dawn
by General Corteau
Summary: AU world. The magical world is dying out. Magical plagues crush the wizarding population, even as the magical population must bend and conform to avoid detection by the normal world. Is there hope? Perhaps. But the fate of a world rests on six teenager's shoulders, all reaching for the same goal - the New Dawn of magic, a renewal of hope for wizards throughout the world.
1. Prologue: The Fall

Disclaimer: This world and the characters in it are adapted from the world of Harry Potter by JK Rowling. I do not claim to own any of these characters or places, nor do I claim that this story is a part of the original canon of the Harry Potter series.

Now please don't sue me…

(A/N): This is my first story guys! Please be nice about your review, but make sure to give useful critiques so I can improve my general story. Thanks buddies :)

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**Prologue**

Once upon a time.

Seems like an innocent beginning, doesn't it? Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Snow White - all those beautiful little fairy tales, those wonderful delights that make children laugh and dance and clap, begin with these words.

But each of those stories has a darker, much more mature past, histories hidden behind a veil of happiness and joy.

And so too does this story have a dark past.

* * *

Once upon a time, dragons soared the skies, free from the threat of kingdoms, free from the threat of armies, free from the threat of death. Once upon a time, the stout dwarves feasted and drank in the open, free from the fear of enslavement. Once upon a time, the willowy elves danced across the meadows, their songs of magic sweeping through the land, growing tiniest of saplings into the sturdiest of oaks.

Once upon a time, Magic was practiced freely in the lands.

Under the Mages, fire leapt through the glades of the forests, twirling and intertwining, harming not a single blade of grass in a beautiful dance of lights. The purest of waters swirled through the streams, giving life to the land around them. Terra herself obeyed their command, her slabs of granite and rich earth bending to form the greatest of structures. The wind kissed the roses and lilies, flowed through the branches of the trees, caressed the mountains and hills. It was the most majestic and wondrous of times. This was the Pre-Historia.

This was the time before the history of the humans.

* * *

The humans were once a part of the natural, magical order. They were created by Prometheus, the Titan who molded them from clay. They were gentle, kind, and loving, the true epitome of a perfect race. Their control and guidance over Magic was powerful, strong, and mighty.

It is said that Prometheus, in a fit of rage at the treatment of the Gods, molded this creation to be the destruction of the world the Gods held dear. And destroy the humans did.

The humans turned terrible and jealous, and sought to conquer the world. Their vast armies marched across the plains, decimating the dew-soaked grasses and lighting the fires of Ragnarok. Their companions, the war-dogs that Prometheus had provided them, hunted to death the tiny gnomes, the hunting-falcons ripping to shreds the twinkling faeries. The demons they summoned from the deepest parts of Tartarus unleashed the death of Hell upon the world. The dwarves the humans enslaved, the elves they brutalized. The magical order of the world was destroyed in a single fell swoop.

The Gods, of course, were enraged. Even as their order fell and their powers became weaker, they vanquished Prometheus, destroying and sealing away the demons. Eventually, after eons of war, Ragnarok came. The endless armies of the corrupted humans faced off against the scraps and remnants of a once-powerful magical order. The Gods, and their side, were crushed.

But before the last God, Hecate, died, she threw with the might of the Last God a final curse. The twisted perversion of the humans that Prometheus had created were destroyed, their weakest and kindest preserved and turned into magic-less beings. And so, as the Last God died, so too did the power of the Fel.

Over time, the land regrew. But it never came back with the beauty and wonder of the Old Land. The dwarves, the elves, the faeries, the gnomes; they all vanished into the farthest reaches of human memory, their names and existences reduced to mere fairy tales. The magic-less humans were the only remnants of the Old Land left, and even they forgot what once was.

But some of the Old Land remained.

The elves were graced with powerful magic. Their remnants were no exception. As the remnants merged and mated with magic-less humans, their offspring were blessed with the same ability. Magic flowed deep in their veins, ready at their command.

And eventually, long after the end of the Last God, the Mages were reborn.

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(A/N): Make sure to read and _Review!_ Next chapter will be the true start of the story and will be uploaded soon. Thanks :D


	2. Chapter 1: Impossible Music

Disclaimer: This world and the characters in it are adapted from the world of Harry Potter by JK Rowling. I do not claim to own any of these characters or places, nor do I claim that this story is a part of the original canon of the Harry Potter series.

Now please don't sue me…

(A/N): So this is the start of the real story! Last chapter was just a prologue, so its time to introduce the main character! :D  
Also note that I will be constantly making slight changes to make the story flow better, so don't be too alarmed if you look back and see a bunch of new words.

* * *

_Oh. My. God._

I sat, frozen, staring at the manila envelope that I had meticulously opened after trying for about 20 minutes.

_No way…Uncle, I...can't believe you did this for me._

Hands trembling, I squeezed my eyes shut as the pure excitement and anticipation of the moment swept over my body, filling all my nerves with a beautiful tingling that just _needed_ to be released.

Opening my mouth, I released out all the pent up energy in a yell of happiness.

_Crash._

Outside the door to my bedroom, a sudden crash echoed through the hallway, interrupting my screams of joy. Worriedly, I stood up slowly and slowly opened the door…

Only to be met by my dad as he came barreling into the room. He grabbed a hold of me and immediately shouted,

"Ashlae? What's going on? Don't worry, I'm here, I'm - "

"What do you think is going on?" I replied, annoyed and somewhat hurt. My dad released me almost immediately.

"Uhh…I-I thought, well, some accident had happened, or something..." He trailed off lamely, looking embarassed._  
_

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted. I rubbed my arms, which were somewhat numb from the deathly tight grip my dad had used on me.

"Christ's donkey," Dad cursed. "I didn't mean – I mean, I thought you were- are you okay?"

"_Yes._" I must have looked extremely annoyed, for Dad smiled sheepishly and murmured,

"Sorry for being - "

I interrupted. "Unnecessarily worried? You should be." Sighing, I said in a softer voice, "Look Dad, I know you're worried but you don't have to overreact at everything. I know that you really care, but I'm...I'm growing up now, and I don't need you to protect me all the time."

Dad looked somberly at me, but then grinned. "I know it's just...it's just I keep looking at you, and I see the little girl that used to sit on my back!" He burst into a cacaphony of fake tears.

Smiling to myself at his antics, I shook my head lightly and slowly walked over back over to my bed, sitting down on the royal blue blankets. I picked up the manila envelope and the letter sitting next to it, rescanning the letter to make sure it wasn't just a figment of my incredibly wild imagination.

_To my most beautiful niece,_

_Hey there! Hope you're having a great 17. Make sure you say 'hi' to your father for me, he's been a great help in designing stuff for my business. It's doing really well now, and one of our products is set to be on the market soon! I'll send you one later, before it actually comes out on market, so you can tease your friends about having the newest and best phone on the market. What can I say, the Kalaeus Hurricane is just one of the top phones there is. It's got it all, the 24 megapixel camera, the amazing new touchscreen interface, and yeah. Don't want to bore you with the details and technical jargon._

_Anyways, since I'm an incredibly generous man (if your dad's reading, he's gonna scoff at this), I've decided to leave you my entire house for your 17__th__ birthday._

_That's right, you read correctly._

_No. Don't start doubting yourself now._

I giggled, thinking how funny it was that my Uncle knew my reactions so well he could predict them on paper.

_Quite amazing eh? Hopefully I am actually predicting your reactions correctly, and am not sounding like a yapping dog. But I digress._

_So I actually am leaving you my house. I'm pretty sure you know what my house looks like, after all you've been there a dozen times, but I just updated it a bit. It's around 5000 square feet, with an upper floor and the most _sweet_ balcony you could ever want. The garden is _immense,_ it adds like 5000 more square feet, but you know all this. Instead, I added a new basement, and shifted all the tech-y stuff down there. The old tech room is now a ballroom, just like you swore it was supposed to be. The basement is full of a bunch of crap you don't need to know, but it's got a few pairs of our newest holographic glass prisms. So you can just set one up and send a few over to your friends, and you can just call each other and even watch episodes of Happiness or Glee (or whatever it's called) on each other's TV. Pretty sweet eh?_

_The ballroom's pretty nice too, but I figured you should be the one to see for yourself. I won't ruin it for you._

_I have the keys to the house, so I'm sending one to you; it should be inside the manila envelope._

Sure enough, I reached my finger into the manila envelope and it hooked on a cool, smooth ring. But instead of a standard key being attached to it, I found myself staring at a long, black card. It had "The Haven", the nickname Uncle Alastair had given his house, written on it in swirling gold print. Engrossed, I ran my thumb over the smooth surface of the card, relishing the gentle coolness of the metal. I grinned cheerfully, pleased with the amazing gift.

"What's that, honey?" Dad questioned.

"Oh, it's my birthday gift from Uncle Alastair! It's why I was yelling before."

"Really? Cool, what is it? And what's that card doing here? Isn't that the key to the Haven?"

I simply sat there and smirked at him. He must have seen something in my look, because after a brief staring contest that lasted about 2 seconds, Dad reached over and snatched the letter from my hands.

"Hey!" I protested, narrowing my eyes at him. "I wasn't done reading!"

But Dad paid no attention to me, his eyes flickering around the paper. His eyes narrowed briefly, and I could tell he caught the "bad word" Uncle had placed in the letter, but he seemed to immediately forget about 3 seconds after, closing his eyes and falling onto the bed with a thump. The bed creaked and protested, as if to say, "Get your fat, lazy arse off me!" Likewise, I shifted, not liking the way the bed sunk about an inch down.

"_Dad._ You're crushing the poor bed."

"Whatever, it's not like the bed has feelings anyway. Ashlae, you do realize that your Uncle just left you his entire house, right? The one that cost just under a million pounds?"

"Ermm…yeah, so?" I said, looking strangely at him.

"Well, what are you going to do with it? Even if we both moved in, there's still too much space there. It'd feel too empty!"

Frowning, I thought about it. It was true, but maybe we could invite some friends over to stay? I was saved from pondering this question by the doorbell.

_Ding dong_.

"Coming," I heard my mom yell from downstairs, rushing to the door. For a few seconds, my dad and I lay on the bed, listening to the murmur of voices underneath us.

"Oh…oh…okay…alright, come on in, I'll call them down." Mom said. In a louder voice, she yelled, "Ashlae! Archie! Come on down!"

Dad looked suspiciously at me. "Don't come down, just in case."

I frowned. Normally I would be somewhat annoyed at his constant paranoia, but I thought back to the creepy staring that had gone on at the movie theater earlier today.

* * *

_Flashback_

_I walked into the theater, laughing along with Alyssa and Rachel at the quip Ari had just made. Suddenly, I noticed a blonde-haired, grey-eyed guy who looked to be 17 staring at me, surrounded by a group of older guys in leather jackets, most wearing shades. I frowned slightly to myself, wondering for the hundredth time that day if the red skirt I wore was too short, tugging it down subconsciously. Glancing back up, I saw the guy had a smirk on his face, whispering to his friends, all of whom turned to look at me._

_Shivering slightly to myself, I turned to Rachel and murmured quietly,_

"_Hey, tell me, are those guys staring at me?"_

_She must have heard the anxiety in my voice, because she didn't openly glance at the group of guys, instead opting to flick her eyes to side while staring straight ahead._

"_Yeah…they are. Here, let's walk faster."_

_Whispering to Alyssa and Ari, Rachel had Alyssa and Ari shield me from their view by strategically placing themselves between the group of guys and me._

"_Thanks, guys, You're the best." I smiled. They all smiled back in return._

"_Of course."_

* * *

_After the movie, I came out of the theater room to see the same group of guys standing outside. As I passed by, I heard one of them say,_

_"Let's get a piece of that tonight, eh?"_

_Flinching, I hurried quickly to the parking lot, where my dad had come to pick me up. I told him about the staring, which had weighed slightly on my mind, although it wasn't enough to prevent me from enjoying the night out. He didn't said anything, although the way his eyes flickered to the mirror showed he was worried._

* * *

Sighing, I shook my head. It wasn't any use to dwell on these thoughts, and plus, I was pretty sure it was petty teenage hormones.

Dad traipsed lazily down the stairs, looking extremely relaxed, but I could tell by his strained neck muscles that he was tense.

_Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak._

"Tychus!" He suddenly said, loudly, making me flinch. "What are you doing here? Ashlae, you can come on down if you want."

Hearing a reply from downstairs in the living room, I slowly descended the mahogany-planked stairs, immediately catching sight of an old man sitting in the living room.

_Wait - that's Tychus?_ This didn't seem like the omniscient, brilliant, and magic-working man I had heard about from my dad's stories. I'd always imagined him as a devilishly handsome man with dark, mysterious eyes and black hair. As if he had heard my thoughts, Tychus' eyes twinkled amusedly.

He was an old man, although his face looked to be kind and wise, smiling softly as he looked at me. Attention was immediately drawn to his crystal blue eyes, which shone with a power and gentleness that, if he were younger, would make any woman shiver and swoon. He wore a comfortable set of blue cotton pajamas sprinkled with a set of flying unicorns, an odd choice for someone who looked so wise and old. _Perhaps he was trying to feel younger?_ I mused. Over his feet he wore what looked to be a very warm set of socks, black with a woolen gold-and-blue timepiece woven in, which appeared to be…_ticking?_ As if Tychus had known exactly what I had noticed, he shifted his feet in such a way that the table covered them. Frowning, I took in the overcoat, which he had not taken off – it looked rather like a set of mage's robes that you might see in a Halloween party. To top it off, he held a magician's hat with a crooked top, matching red, gold, and black with his robes. I suddenly couldn't help but blurt out,

"It's months past Halloween already, you know."

Immediately burning a flaming red, I clamped my hands over my mouth, my heart already sinking at the crass comment I had just uttered. I could see my Mom already glaring at me, something she rarely, if ever, did, and promptly left to go "make some tea". My dad, to my left, had just closed his eyes and was slowly shaking his head back and forth, as if despairing of his daughter's un-ladylike actions. But the most surprising reaction came from Tychus himself. Instead of looking annoyed, angry, or hurt like I expected him to, he burst out into a laughing fit so intense, I could almost feel the mirth in my own bones.

When he was done, he grabbed his handkerchief and wiped as his eyes. Grinning now, he chuckled,

"Ah, the beauty of teenage impulsiveness. Now, don't be so embarrassed dear, I should thank you for making me laugh the hardest I've laughed in the last 10 years. Now you must be Ashlae." Turning to my dad, he added, "Congratulations for giving birth to such a beautiful young lady."

"Why thank you, Tychus. But, if I may, what is your reason for coming here?" Dad asked, puzzled.

"Ah yes. I hope I haven't intruded too much on your family's time." Coughing, he continued. "It is your daughter's 17th, yes? Alastair told me to tell your daughter, and I quote, 'Those modifications are _amazing_. Right now the car can crash into a wall and not even be owned. Courtesy of our new, _totally awesome_ carbon mesh material, of course. There's others too, but they'll have to remain a secret for now.'" I laughed quietly at the perfect impersonation of Uncle's voice. Tychus noticed.

"It's quite good, if I say so myself. I've been around Alastair for…what, a dozen years? His nasally, disgusting voice tends to stick in your head." Winking at me, he continued, "But that isn't the only reason I'm here. There's something you and your family have to know about me."

My dad and I shared a glance, because, after all, this is where the movies have the innocent guy reveal he's the evil mastermind of a plan to take over the world. We then looked back at Tychus.

"Well, no, I'm not the head of the Mafia. But, truth is, well…" Tychus looked seriously at us.

"I'm a wizard."

Silence. My Dad and I glanced at each other, silently wondering, _Has this guy finally reached breaking point?_ We, almost simultaneously, glanced back at Tychus. He must have seen the complete wariness in our eyes, because he sighed as reached into his pocket, pulling out a long wooden stick.

"Here. Allow me to…demonstrate." He casually waved the stick and pointed at my grand piano. "What's your favorite piano song, dear?" He questioned me.

"Probably…I dunno, maybe PianoGuys' Titanium mashup on Youtube?" I said, rather unsurely. Tychus flicked his wand one more time, and said, loudly and clearly,

"PianoGuys' Titanium mashup, on Youtube."

Suddenly, music sprang to life from the piano. And astonishingly, it was not only even piano notes that were being played – I swore I could hear all the claps and taps on the cello, as well as the cello itself! As the melody drifted throughout the room, easing into my ears, I slowly trailed over to my grand piano, staring in awe.

In some areas, more than ten keys were being played, as if by those invisible hands that illusionists tried to pretend were there. I lifted up the piano cover and my eyes immediately widened at the chaos inside.

Mallets were stretching like they were not designed to stretch, tapping against the wooden floor of the piano and the sides. Strings were being plucked by their own accord. I didn't even know where the bow hairs had come from, but they were twirling, curving, running along the strings, playing a beautiful cello melody. Silently, I watched the display with large eyes. Then, trembling, I slowly lowered the hood of the piano down, and turned almost mechanically to Tychus.

"How…h-how did you…I mean, how…" I stammered incoherently. _This should be impossible!_

My dad looked equally shocked, although he was looking at me in concern, rather than at Tychus.

"Well…I'm a wizard. I guess that's the most simple explanation as of right now." Tychus glanced at me, almost worriedly, before continuing, "We actually have initiation today for Hogwarts, which is our…school, if you would like to phrase it in a mundane term such as that. It's starting in about half an hour. If you'd like, I could bring you and your parents there."

"Tychus…" Dad said slowly. "How is this possible? Our company…it creates some of the most advanced techs in the world, and we haven't even dreamed that this was possible. How…"

"Like I said, I'm a wizard. If you come to initiation, I can explain more."

"Yeah, but why do you want Ashlae there?" Suddenly, Dad realized something. "Come to think of it, how does this relate to Ashlae anyway?"

Smiling now, Tychus declared, "Because, Archie, your daughter is one of us."

* * *

(A/N): Dun, dun, dun! Bomb dropped. Sorry for the somewhat boring chapter, but I feel like a good story always needs to have a good background to push off from. I tried to make it more entertaining, but I swear the totally awesome dueling and magical parts will come soon…perhaps in the next chapter or the one after that.

Always remember to _read and review! _And as always, thanks, and may Magic bless you all~


	3. Chapter 2: The Choosing of the Wands

Disclaimer: This world and the characters in it are adapted from the world of Harry Potter by JK Rowling. I do not claim to own any of these characters or places, nor do I claim that this story is a part of the original canon of the Harry Potter series.

Now please don't sue me…

(A/N): So this is the start of the real story! Last chapter was just a prologue, so its time to introduce the main character! :D

* * *

_Previous chapter_

_Smiling now, Tychus declared, "Because, Archie, your daughter is one of us." _

* * *

"One of...b-but, how?" I stammered, disbelieving. _There's no way. I can't be one of them._

"Oh, I have no idea," Tychus said airily, eyes twinkling. "Magic herself has a strange way of choosing her champions."

"You speak of Magic as if it's a living being," I said reproachfully.

"Ah, Ashlae, but she is. You see, Magic isn't just a tool we use to our bidding – no, she's one of the pervading forces in the universe, and an intelligent one at that," replied Tychus. He looked as if about to continue, but decided against it. "Ashlae, I understand everything is complicated and confusing, but everything will be cleared up at the initiation. Will you two come?"

Dad and I glanced at each other. I could tell by his expression that he thought this was a lot to take in, something so fantastical and unreal that had Tychus not physically demonstrated, Dad would have written him off as a mad lunatic.

The world suddenly spun. I desperately clenched the chair to steady myself, barely able to stop from falling to the ground. I felt the entire chair rock minutely, glancing down at my hands to see them shaking. Concentrating on stilling them, I suddenly realized it was no good, for my entire _body_ was doing the same. I took a deep shuddering breath as Dad came rushing towards me.

"It's fine, honey, it's fine…" he murmured soothingly, wrapping his arms tightly around me. I hugged back tightly, inhaling the comforting and familiar scent of my dad. After a moment of calming whispers, we released each other, taking a series of deep, calming breaths.

"Alright. We'll go. At least to see what this is all about," Dad looked, almost defiantly, at Tychus, as if daring him to pull another fast one on him.

"Alright," the old man agreed, grabbing a hold of both our arms.

Suddenly, I felt an intense squeezing sensation, extremely uncomfortable. I had just squeezed my eyes shut and opened my mouth to scream when –

_Pop._

The sensation ended. I collapsed onto the floor, groaning.

"Christ, that wasn't pleasant, was it?" I shut my eyes, trying to keep my stomach from revolting. "What was that?"

"Oh, just Apparition. It's basically long-distance teleportation." Tychus said. "Usually first timers get that reaction, but it eventually fades away the more used to Apparition you get."

"I don't think I ever want to do that ever again," I moaned. Forcing myself to take another series of deep, calming breaths, I stood back up unsteadily, and almost immediately forgot about my nausea.

A lavish hall, at least hundreds of feet in length, stretched down in front of me. In the middle, one long table was placed, benches stretched along the entire two sides. Covering the table was a velvety red tablecloth with golden rims, three-pronged candle sticks softly flickering and lighting the table with a gentle glow. The wooden floor was covered by a long, auburn-shaded, furry rug. The ceiling stretched dozens of feet high, showing a starry night with a clear full moon and clouds drifting lazily along. On the walls of the hall sat 4 banners. The closer left was silver and green, 'Slytherin' emblazoned on it, with a caption that said 'Cunning will get you the deepest of your desires'. Farther down was a bronze and blue emblem, this time with the word 'Ravenclaw'. Underneath it, the words 'Cleverness will be your wings of support' twirled around the banner, swooping and diving like a hawk. To the right of the hall was the red and gold banner, Gryffindor: 'Be fearless, be brave, be the alpha of your pack'. And lastly, to the farthest right, sat the yellow and black Hufflepuff symbol. It advised, 'Be loyal to your clan, and they will be loyal to you'.

A beautiful smell pervaded the hall, like a feast had been prepared for our coming. The air was filled with a comfortable warmth that spread deep into my bones, giving me a sense of security and comfort. Taking a deep breath of the somehow crisp air, I heard the crackling of a huge fire under a chimney. It was the dream of dreams, the most beautiful of sights any man or woman could imagine.

I had not realized how long I had been standing there, eagerly drinking up the sight, until Tychus had cleared his throat amusedly and said, "We can come back to staring if you two would like, just later. I'm afraid the initiation is about to start in the conference room."

The three of us slowly walked down the hall into another, less lavishly decorated hall, which led to another room. I could faintly hear the sound of soft murmuring. Tychus pushed open the door and let Dad and I in.

"Centurion Styrka!" I heard someone exclaim. I located the source with my eyes and promptly flinched.

Sitting in front of me was none other than the blonde boy who had been eyeing me at the theater. Apparently he had noticed me too for his eyes widened slightly with recognition.

He opened his mouth to say something, but I quickly moved to the opposite end of the table, where 2 seats were conveniently set for my dad and me. Taking a quick seat down, I was surprised to find what appeared to be a hard, ornate wooden chair was in fact very flexible, quickly molding around my body to provide an extremely comfortable seat.

"Wow," I sighed, leaning my head back against the high back of the chair. "This feels…"

"Pretty cool, eh?" A voice spoke up from across the table. "You non-magicals just can't do cool stuff like this." I glanced up to see the blonde boy smirking back at me. For some reason, I felt extremely irked by his smug smirk, and snapped back at him.

"Well, I'm sorry not all of us are gifted with the _amazing_ ability to do magic." I retorted.

The boy flinched and his somewhat hurt expression quickly turned cold. "Well that's too bad, isn't it? All the things you can't do…"

"Draco," his mother reprimanded. "Stop being so rude the girl."

"Sorry, Mother," Draco, the blonde boy, muttered. "It's hard to be polite when she's so snappy."

"At least I'm not the one leering at other people…" I said under my breath, but evidently not quietly enough, because Draco flushed a dark red and glanced away while his mom looked scandalized, grabbing him by his ear and whispering harshly to him. I suddenly felt a rush of guilt run through me for embarrassing the boy in front of all his peers. After all, even if he was a pervert, publicly humiliating someone was never a good feeling.

Glancing around, I saw a few other people around me, all looking around 17. An auburn-haired girl sat next to Draco, legs crossed primly, glancing around at all of us with her nose turned upwards. A round boy sat on my right, brown hair and eyes a soft shade of green, looking unsurely between Draco and me. To the other side of Draco sat a pale boy with ice-cold blue eyes and neatly combed dark hair, giving off an aura that just screamed 'don't mess with me or you'll regret it'. And finally, to my left, sat a pretty Californian girl with clear blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. She wore a shirt that had Hollister written on it, so I decided she must be a non-magical like me too.

"Hi," I murmured softly to her. She glanced at me, surprised, before breaking into a smile.

"Hey," she replied, blue eyes glancing at me curiously. "So you're non-magical, right?"

"Yup!" I replied. "Are you?"

"Nah." She smiled, before frowning at my disheartened look. "What's wrong? Not all magicals are as stuck up as Hera Granger over there," she glanced over at the auburn-haired girl.

"No, I know, it's just…Draco," his name tasted strange on my lips, "isn't making a good first impression." I glanced back at the blonde haired boy who was still being berated by his mom. The blonde-haired girl laughed.

"Don't worry. Draco isn't as bad as he first appears. Although you said he was leering at you…" She frowned. "Draco doesn't usually do that. Whenever he comes over during meetings, he's really nice and friendly to me."

"Really? Huh…I guess I'll see later on." I hoped that he wouldn't continue being such a unfriendly person, because I hated making enemies. Shaking my head, I continued. "Let's stop talking about Draco. Sorry, I didn't actually catch your name…?"

"Daphne," she offered. "Daphne Greengrass. And yours?"

"Yours sounds so exotic," I complimented. "Mine's Ashlae. Ashlae Fata."

"Thanks!" She beamed. "I like your name too, sounds so…mysterious." I smiled at that.

"I actually have no idea who gave my mom the idea for my name." I remarked. "I think it means something like 'ash meadow girl' or something." Daphne laughed at that.

"At least yours isn't an ornament you hang on a door on Christmas," she remarked drily. "Daphne means laurel, so the 'green grass laurel' I suppose is the meaning of my name."

"Yeah, my last name is weird too, especially with my dad's first name, Archie. 'Cause then it means 'genuine courage of girls'. That's pretty manly, right?" We both laughed. I glanced back around the table.

"So, who's that boy on my right?" I asked.

"Hmm…he's not a magical, but I think Centurion Styrka said his name was Neville or something. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Just that I wanted to know a few more people, and Draco and Hera aren't on the top of my list." I frowned. I was suddenly interrupted by Tychus clearing his throat.

"Alright. Everyone's here, so we should probably begin." He coughed. "So the two of you, Neville and Ashlae, are probably wondering what magic is. To the others, please remain patient and considerate," at this he glanced at Draco meaningfully, "to these two."

"Magic is not a simple tool that we wizards can simply bend and use to our will. Magic is a sentient force in this universe. How is a fabric of the universe sentient? Our greatest scholars have never figured that out, even with the thousands of years we have used and manipulated magic. Magic can't interact with the world like we can, or the sun, or the moon, or any physical object. Instead, she chooses her champions, blesses them with the power to manipulate and distort, following the rules of magic, not non-magical physics. We Mages are, then, essentially the medium of interaction between her and the physical world. While all humans and creatures that live do possess a certain degree of connection, we Mages are able to intensify the connection through training, using Magic's gifts as aids."

Centurion Styrka now spoke to all of us. "Now, that is not to say that we Mages are in any way better than non-magicals. The normal humans are intelligent as well, and numerous in number. They have created many things that we Mages could never do with magic alone. As such, our training not only includes the mastery of our specific kinds of magic, but also the mastery of its application to normal human lives. For instance," he pulled out his wand.

"This is a lightbulb. I'm sure all of you have these in your homes. Now, normally this requires a specific watt of electricity, with a specific power source, with a connection to the overall power collector and/or generator. But with magic, we can easily change a few things…" At this, he tapped the lightbulb in various places. "Now it works by feeding on the ambient magical presence of the universe. Now, this is not harming the balance of the universe in any way because even as we faintly drain the universe of magic and convert it into energy, Magic herself takes in energy and converts it into magic, from places like the centers of black holes and the very outer edges of the universe."

"This is just a simple demonstration, of course. Magic can be applied to many, many more places. Making electric cars run more efficiently and smoothly, enchanting surfaces to never rust, etching runes into bridges to make them self-repairing – the possibilities are endless. And as such, we at this training facility seek to teach you how to use your magic in the basics, and further develop your skills in your area of expertise."

"Alright, but how do we find our area of expertise?" I asked frowning. "What happens if you are equally proficient in everything?"

"That, my dear, is up to the choosing of the wands," Tychus said mysteriously. He pointed behind me at a multicolored globe, dozens of feet across, sitting near the back, which on closer inspection looked to be a shining golden globe with thousands of various colored wands stuck inside. "This globe contains hundreds of wands. Some are near replicas of each other, and some are distinctly unique. In front of this globe lie 4 wands. They will be your basic guide to which section of the globe you must next proceed to. Each wand represents an affinity in a different area of magic." Tychus glanced at all of us. "Go, pick your wands. You will know it is the right one when you come to it."

Excitement radiated from the entire group. I jumped up from my seat, reaching the table first as I was the closest one. I touched the first one, a wand with a twist at the front labeled 'Defense', feeling nothing. Moving on, the 2nd one was a wand that started out a deep red wood, flawlessly transforming into a pale birch. It was labeled Transfiguration. The 3rd wand had 3 golden rings at the tip, labeled Charms, the handle depicting an ornate Phoenix that constantly was dying and reviving in a flickering fire. But the last one spoke to me the most. It was a beautiful wand, symbols dancing and disappearing across the entire length, labeled 'Rune Carver'. Touching that wand, I reached over to the globe and walked around until I reached the Rune Carver section, which was considerably smaller than the other 3 sections. Something drew me into the bottom left section, which I waved over until my hands, seemingly by itself, clasped around a wand.

A sudden burst of ecstasy burned through my being, emanating from the wand itself, as if it had waited a thousand years to get claimed by me. I collapsed to the ground, relishing the feeling for what seemed like an eternity before realizing that everyone was staring at me concernedly. I smiled sheepishly as I got back up, fixing my clothes and hair as everyone went back to picking their wands.

The wand was like the sample Rune Carver wand, its wooden surface dancing with dozens of symbols. It was a simple mahogany, but it slowly transitioned into a clear diamond at the end, its tip glowing a faint red. Faint lines of what I took to be magical energy streamed between the handle and tip, its hot red dancing through the microscopic cracks in the diamond. I stared at the beauty of the wand, admiring the beauty of it, before I noticed someone was standing in front of me.

"Oh hey, Daphne," I smiled widely. "Gosh, I love my wand so much! It's a Rune Carver, apparently."

"Lucky you. We haven't got a Rune Carver in years," she grinned cheerfully. "I got Charms. I feel like I should be bummed by this, but that feeling when you touch the wand for the first time…I wouldn't trade this one for any other in the world."

"I know right? That's exactly why I fell," I exclaimed.

"Wow, you had a really strong reaction then. 'Cause I only _nearly_ fell."

"Or I could just be weak," I laughed. We stood there, watching the others pick their wands, before heading back to the main table.

"Alright," Tychus said. "I'm sure all of you had your reactions with the wands, although some might have been stronger," he glanced at me, "and some might have been weaker. If you ever find a wand that feels better to you, use that one instead. The stronger the reaction, the better the wands are for compatability."

"So we're just about done for today. Hopefully I'll be seeing you six here within a week for the start of the new term. Otherwise, good luck with your new wand. However," Tychus' voice suddenly turned extremely serious. "There are several general laws that must be upheld, or you will face…" he coughed. "_Serious_ consequences. First, you must never leak to any non-magical, even family beyond who you've brought here today, that there is any magical world. No hints, no mysterious riddles. You must also never perform magic that might be noticed by anybody or anything that is not magical, including cameras. Lastly, you must always maintain a normal relationship with the non-magical world. If anybody suspects _anything_ out of the ordinary, they will investigate, and they might come upon your magical belongings." He looked gravely at all of us. "For your sakes, I hope you follow these laws, for if you don't, the results will be…gruesome and painful."

"Why so harsh?" I frowned.

"Because," Tychus looked at me. "if the secret of our existence gets out...our entire race could fall."

* * *

(A/N): Yay, it's the intro to the entire magical world! Please make sure to read and review, and if you guys don't understand anything, _please tell me so I can fix it._

Thanks guys :D


	4. Author's Note

**(A/N): Sorry guys, this isn't a new chapter. I just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews and note that I will be working on this story throughout the next 3 weeks, but will be posting infrequently, perhaps maybe twice in the 3 week period. However, expect a LOT of changes to the beginning few chapters, as I am quite unsatisfied with my work. Around the end of December and beginning of January, I will be posting quite a lot so be mindful of this.**

**Alright, thanks guys! Keep peeled for updates!**


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